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The German target of a zero-carbon energy system by 2050 comes with the challenge of increasing electricity demand and thus needed acceleration in renewable capacity installed. Depending on the consulted study 10-15 GW PV and 6-8 GW Wind will be needed as new installations each year. With an increasing amount of fluctuating renewables, we will see a blockage for grid connection offers for each individual project. Meanwhile Therefore, it is suggested to use the complementary generation profile of wind and PV plants at one grid connection point without increasing its overall maximum power. With such a combined plant of similar sized projects in Germany the utilization of that point expressed in full load hours can be increased by 10-15 % resulting in an increase in energy injected by more than 50% based on the wind production. The investment and operation cost of the overall project can be reduced so that the overall generated kWh in the lifetime of the project cost less. This is a win for the project owner but also for the overall economy with less subsidies required to finance the project. Further optimization could be reached through a hybridization with a storage system.
Inspec keywords: carbon; optimisation; wind power plants; power grids; power generation economics; photovoltaic power systems
Subjects: Solar power stations and photovoltaic power systems; Power system management, operation and economics; Optimisation techniques; Wind power plants